Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images
Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images
Frustration from Manchester United’s failure to beat Manchester City remains days on, with one baffling moment as Michael Carrick’s side chased an equaliser is arguably more concerning than a failure to score.
The topic of VAR has dominated post-derby debates, with Michael Carrick expressing his disbelief at the situation that saw Erling Haaland’s clearly offside goal allowed, which has since been confirmed as the wrong call.
But regardless of how wrongful the decision was by VAR, Carrick doesn’t have a leg to stand on, as Manchester United didn’t deserve to win based on the poor offensive showing. But in the 88th minute, we got a sign of one big issue.
Manchester United v Nottingham Forest - Premier League
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Bruno Fernandes and Harry Maguire concerns for Manchester United
United’s attack was so poor against City, creating so little by way of clear chances despite hitting the post twice from range.
But the problem of United’s creativity can be highlighted by a moment in the 88th minute.
United were pushing hard for a goal and Bryan Mbeumo missed a huge chance minutes later, but bizarrely late in the game, the deepest sitting player in red was Bruno Fernandes, as he stood side-by-side with Erling Haaland, marking the Dane.
Meanwhile, Harry Maguire was where Fernandes should have been on the edge of the City box, where he did create Mbeumo’s chance from moments later.
The two most senior players in the United team should know better than to be so woefully out of position in a key moment of the game, with Maguire in particular wrong as he shouldn’t have been so far up the pitch.
But there is also reason that Carrick can be blamed.
Sacrificing Youri Tielemans cost Manchester United
Part of the reason that Fernandes was so deep is because of Carrick deciding to take off Youri Tielemans and therefore move the captain further away from goal in favour of Benjamin Sesko leading the line.
Without Tielemans, United lost most of the control had on the game. While throwing on multiple forwards without a real plan of action is not a viable way to chase a lead and showed shades of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Taking off Matheus Cunha or Marcus Rashford instead should have been the move, keeping the balance in midfield and most importantly keeping Fernandes at the end of the pitch where he can do the most damage.
Fernandes is United’s best player, biggest threat and game winner, so to sacrifice him to any degree makes absolutely no sense.
Carrick’s in-game management is becoming a real avenue for concern and is one area that he needs to improve on immediately, otherwise there is a risk things get worse.
This could be a side effect of United not bringing in more experience around him in the coaching staff. But now its happening, he needs to learn from it and change.